Shoring retaining wall failure in Virginia prompts apartment building evacuation

Last month there were several updates to standards involving texting the flexural strength of concrete as well as updates to some masonry and dimension stone standards.  ASTM D6926 – Standard Practice for Preparation of Bituminous Specimens Using Marshall Apparatus has been updated, so if you are involved in asphalt pavement testing, make sure you go and find out what the changes are. There are also a whole slew of groundwater and site investigation standards that were reapproved.

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MOUNT AIRY, NC—A $2 million tunnel construction project on the Great Alleghany Passage (GAP) is reopened to the public with help from a geotechnical polyurethane foam called TerraThane, by US company, NCFI Polyurethanes.

The GAP rail-trail is 150 miles of hiking and biking between Cumberland, Md, and Pittsburgh, Pa. created along the former railway line. In Cumberland, the GAP joins the C&O Canal Towpath, creating a continuous 335-mile long trail experience all the way to Washington, DC. It’s become a favorite biking destination for people from around the Mid-Atlantic states. One of its main tunnels, the Pinkerton Tunnel, an 849-foot former Western Maryland Railway tunnel, has been closed since 1975 due to erosion and unstable conditions. The Allegheny Trail Alliance, the organization that built and now maintains the 150-mile GAP, and the Somerset County Rails-to-Trails Association (SCRTA), wanted the tunnel reopened and helped fund the project.

[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release from GeoPrac sponsor, NCFI Polyurethanes (makers of TerraThane). [/Editor]

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A frightening moment was captured on video when a security guard in Shenzhen city, China was swallowed by a sinkhole. The video indicated that residents complained of vibrations or tremors from a nearby construction site […]